An analyst, one of Tesla’s biggest boosters on Wall Street, says he’s facing a “moment of truth” at his EV due to the “crisis” created by Elon Musk spending so much on the Trump administration.
Analyst Wedbush’s Dan Ives begged the mask in a memo released Thursday to reduce cooperation with Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“If you agree or disagree with Doge, you’ve missed the point that Musk spent 110% of your time on Doge (not as Tesla CEO) and since President Trump returned to the White House, this essentially transformed Tesla into a political icon. This led to what Ives called “the moment of a brand’s tornado crisis for Musk and Tesla.”
Ives’ plea is because Tesla’s stock price fell to about $230, which was less than half its peak at around $480 in late December, lower than before Trump was elected. Protests against the company are growing worldwide, and the levels of vandalism on Tesla vehicles and stores have increased dramatically, prompting the new administration to label the action as “domestic terrorism.”
Ives used a similar language in a memo released in early March, but he couched it in a more optimistic tone, believing he was at the beginning of the “the greatest innovation and technology cycle in Tesla’s history.”
Thursday’s notes were even more calm. He wrote X “I’ve never been more bullish about Tesla’s future,” but he specifically called on Musk and the Tesla board to “step up, stop silence and help resolve this crisis.”
Ives didn’t appeal to Musk to step down, but Ross Gerber, another well-known Tesla investor who tried to board the Tesla board in 2023, is looking for just that. Instead, Ives urged the CEO to announce that he would balance his roles at Doge and Tesla.
He also hopes to provide a more specific roadmap for the mystical “more affordable models” that Musk should be making his debut at some point this year, and provide details of his attempts to launch the Robotaxi service.
If Tesla’s CEO does those things, he writes, “The heat from the musk around the doge begins to dissipate among most critics, leaving a scar,” but does not lead to “permanent brand damage.”
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